h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

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It's been a cat and mouse game for 30 years..

Could be sympathy for what happened to his wife that has seen him supported.

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Apparently she's forgiven him.

I think he's a weasel and I really think he should face the music. I have sympathy for what happened to his wife, but that has no bearing on what he did.

Money talks, indeed.

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But locking him up is supposed to be about punishment, reform and protecting the public. There's no evidence he repeated the crime and he's lived in exile for 30 years. What does locking him up now achieve?

Well, from a quick glance through the story on the beeb, it would appear that it's not as simple as 'he dun a runner n wont come back'.

He settled with the victim who has asked for the charges to be dropped, so she's had her blood money and would quite like to be left alone to get on with her life. I can understand that feeling on a very personal level. Stop dragging up stuff that doesn't need to be dragged up, it cant change a thing at this stage. That in itself would not be a good enough reason to drop it imo, but...

He pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain and the judge apparently went back on or did *something* with the agreement which resulted in an arrest warrant that the guilty plea was, presumeably, supposed to avoid.

We dont do plea bargains over here in the UK, well, not officially anyway, afaik. Seems to have made this case a lot more complicated than it should have been.

It would seem there's quite a shadow of doubt over the whole incident with a lot of people holding the judge to be at fault for the misconduct of the case...

Tricky.

This short questions and answers report from the Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/sep/28/roman-polanski-arrest-background

throws up some interesting points about the apparent wheeler-dealer aspects of his arrest.

I'm pretty disgusted by the reaction of France and Poland which seem to be based on the 'but he's a great artist' stance. That's completely besides the point IMO.

Of course it's beside the point.

National treasure or not, statutory rape is statutory rape.

But it's not as clear cut cos of this plea bargain rubbish.

The irony is, according to the Beeb, he'd only get a maximum sentence of 3 years.

Gif

3 years?

Which is about the sentence a UK rapist is likely to receive after good behaviour, time served etc.

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Having sex with a minor is considered to always be rape afaik on the grounds that under the legal age of consent, a person cannot consent to sex as they are not regarded as informed adults or something.

Obviously Spanish minors are far more mature then. I think it's ridiculous to equate having sex with someone to rape. It denigrates the reality of rape which is about imposing sex on someone when they say NO.

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Yes, but Effers this crime didn't happen in Spain. If it did, he wouldn't have a problem.

In Saudi Arabia a girl can be married off when she's still a toddler and then her husband is allowed to do whatever he pleases to her.

Are you saying that's an argument for letting him free?

Are you suggesting that someone considered to be a child can make those sorts of adult decisions? The law's there to protect people who cannot yet be considered old enough to take care of themselves when faced with an adult who cannot control theirself.

At what age would you say that a child has simply had sex and not been raped? 11? 9?

It's better to have the law than not to. The details are pretty much academic, if she was underage, she cannot have agreed, as a competent and informed adult, to have sex.

I accept he commited a crime under the jurisdiction of where it ocurred. My point is that people on this thread are calling it 'rape'. It's *not* rape. It's underage sex with what is considered a minor in the particular juridiction where it ocurred.

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